A Book on Making a Petite École
A compendium of children’s design exercises by architects from around the world accompany illustrations and photographs documenting the construction of the Petite École pavilion.

As part of the 2019 Biennale d'architecture et de paysage in Versailles, France, MOS constructed Petite École, a small, open-air pavilion to house educational workshops for children. It is a place for looking and making, and for making and looking, constructed with 688 aluminum pieces modeled, flattened, cut, folded, prefabricated, shipped, and then assembled onsite. It is made to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere. It is designed to be easily understood, made of simple building elements: a long, low roof with columns and stacked beams holding it up.

Undertaken during various design workshops, single page design exercises written by architects were assembled into a large book and given to children. A Book on Making a Petite École features an expanded collection of these exercises. Each exercise includes playful illustrations of its steps, starting a conversation about how designers look at, think about, teach, and imagine the foundations of design. Alongside these, the design process of the pavilion is included, as its own design exercise, from colorful illustrations of each step of the pavilion’s construction, to actual construction photographs and photographs of the completed pavilion being occupied.

A Book on Making a Petite École considers basic questions of design pedagogy, abstraction, accessibility, experimentation, and equity, while considering and reconsidering architecture.
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A Book on Making a Petite École
A compendium of children’s design exercises by architects from around the world accompany illustrations and photographs documenting the construction of the Petite École pavilion.

As part of the 2019 Biennale d'architecture et de paysage in Versailles, France, MOS constructed Petite École, a small, open-air pavilion to house educational workshops for children. It is a place for looking and making, and for making and looking, constructed with 688 aluminum pieces modeled, flattened, cut, folded, prefabricated, shipped, and then assembled onsite. It is made to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere. It is designed to be easily understood, made of simple building elements: a long, low roof with columns and stacked beams holding it up.

Undertaken during various design workshops, single page design exercises written by architects were assembled into a large book and given to children. A Book on Making a Petite École features an expanded collection of these exercises. Each exercise includes playful illustrations of its steps, starting a conversation about how designers look at, think about, teach, and imagine the foundations of design. Alongside these, the design process of the pavilion is included, as its own design exercise, from colorful illustrations of each step of the pavilion’s construction, to actual construction photographs and photographs of the completed pavilion being occupied.

A Book on Making a Petite École considers basic questions of design pedagogy, abstraction, accessibility, experimentation, and equity, while considering and reconsidering architecture.
49.95 In Stock
A Book on Making a Petite École

A Book on Making a Petite École

A Book on Making a Petite École

A Book on Making a Petite École

Hardcover

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Overview

A compendium of children’s design exercises by architects from around the world accompany illustrations and photographs documenting the construction of the Petite École pavilion.

As part of the 2019 Biennale d'architecture et de paysage in Versailles, France, MOS constructed Petite École, a small, open-air pavilion to house educational workshops for children. It is a place for looking and making, and for making and looking, constructed with 688 aluminum pieces modeled, flattened, cut, folded, prefabricated, shipped, and then assembled onsite. It is made to be taken down and reassembled elsewhere. It is designed to be easily understood, made of simple building elements: a long, low roof with columns and stacked beams holding it up.

Undertaken during various design workshops, single page design exercises written by architects were assembled into a large book and given to children. A Book on Making a Petite École features an expanded collection of these exercises. Each exercise includes playful illustrations of its steps, starting a conversation about how designers look at, think about, teach, and imagine the foundations of design. Alongside these, the design process of the pavilion is included, as its own design exercise, from colorful illustrations of each step of the pavilion’s construction, to actual construction photographs and photographs of the completed pavilion being occupied.

A Book on Making a Petite École considers basic questions of design pedagogy, abstraction, accessibility, experimentation, and equity, while considering and reconsidering architecture.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781638400677
Publisher: Actar D
Publication date: 02/28/2023
Pages: 158
Product dimensions: 9.50(w) x 12.70(h) x (d)
Age Range: 6 - 11 Years

About the Author

Michael Meredith, along with Hilary Sample, is a principal of MOS, an internationally recognized architecture practice based in New York, and Professor at Princeton UniversitySchool of Architecture.




Hilary Sample is the IDC Professor of Housing Design at Columbia UniversityGSAPP, and co-founder of the New York-based architecture and design studio MOS.

Read an Excerpt

Petite École is a one-room, open-air design school for young children. It is a place for looking and making, and for making and looking. It is 688 aluminum pieces modeled, flattened, cut, folded, prefabricated, shipped, and then assembled onsite by a few people in a few days. It is made to be reassembled. It could be constructed anywhere and elsewhere. We imagine different contexts. It looks low-tech. We made large paper models by hand. It looks high-tech. We made parametric fabrication files. We photographed. We sketched. We looked at various angles. We adjusted the elements. We lowered the eaves. We tried other proportions. These look good for the moment. It looks industrial. It looks familiar. It looks abstract. It is made of building elements: a long, low roof with columns and stacked beams holding it up. It is made of folded aluminum. It has a sign made of folded aluminum. It has furniture made of folded aluminum. It is meant to be looked at. It is meant to be inhabited. It is meant for others’ enjoyment. It is a stage. It makes other stages. We look. It looks. We make. It makes.

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